Maria Torres, Administrator of NorCo's Children Youth and Families (CYF) department, updated County Council on May 2.
She indicated her department received 8,475 referrals of child abuse or neglect las year, which is the highest number of complaints received since the county began keeping tack in 2015. This year, there have been 2,356 referrals through March. Torres indicated that, though the numbers have decreased slightly from where they were at this time last year, the cases are more complex.
She indicated that 179 children are currently in placement. Of this total, 71 are in county kinship, a program in which relatives care for a child in an effort to reduce stress and promote family stability. Another 73 are with foster care agency vendors. The final 25, mostly teenagers, are in congregate care. "A lot of people really don't want to deal with teenagers," remarked Torres.
There are 29 vacancies in her department of which 22 are caseworkers. So, when union agent Chris Ellis told Council two weeks ago that there were double digit vacancies in Human Services, he was accurate.
Human Services Director Sue Wandalowski said there are more vacancies, but there are more positions. CYF has expanded from a department of 125 on 2018 to 164 today. She pointed out that the county's vacancy rate is 17%, well below the state average of 30-40%.
Instead of fluffing up their boss McClure's health center the three bought amigos on council should demand better pay for recruitment and retention. If any of them bothered to ask employees' themselves, they would get the truth. They have only been on council a few months and they think they know everything about the needs of employees. They only know what McClure tells them. They do not talk to employees because They do not care.
ReplyDeleteDid their Union say YES to the 13% raise yet ? Coupled with the last one they’ll have made 22% in 6 years.
ReplyDelete22% divided 6??? 3.6. I think??? What has inflation gone up in the past 6 years? Come on Bernie do some real work. calculate the cost of living and see where county employees are.
DeleteThe reason McClure is running around saying the health benefits fund is losing money is because the employees aren't getting their steps. The benefits pay are based off a percentage of hourly wages. So when the employees wages don't keep up with the inflation of the country well your gonna have shortages. But they don't care.
Hey go back to the youTube video of Cusick last county council meeting or one of his last meetings. When he asked McClure about salaries and McClure was bragging about 12% raises in 6 years. And when Cusick asked McClure if those raises even keep up with inflation. McClure had to admit NO it hasn't. And McClure asked Cusick if he should give county employees a 17% raise to make them even with just the cost of living.
DeleteCusick answer should have been YES.
If their pay increases 22% over 6 years, they aren’t keeping up with inflation.
ReplyDeleteAnd a 3.5-4% yearly pay increase on a $40,000 per year job is peanuts.
It's more than private sector giving. Who pays for that kind of raise?
DeleteThe average hourly salary in the private sector is 34.75 according to US labor industry.
DeleteCounty has the funds to increase wages. And if they don’t well then we all pay a little more in taxes! I’m a taxpayer and I’d support an increase in a heart beat! I value well paid employees whom are treated fairly in any job. Taxes will rise, you have to know that and deal with it. Private sector raises prices and I’d imagine you still buy the more expensive items, you too will pay more taxes!
DeleteIf northampton County excutive administration was an actual busines board of directors. They would get fired or the busines would go out of busines. It would be bankrupt in months the way it is run. The county doesn't have to produce anything in quality or time. They have a guaranteed revenue. Don't have to earn anything. They get TAXES. And it is so missed managed. They play the PC , woke political game instead of focusing on the running of the county. It's a shame the government is supposed to be there to help society but believe they are there to run society. People don't realize how bad shape this county is until they are in it.
ReplyDelete8,000 of them were from Sultana
ReplyDeleteWhat most people do not realize most county workers start around 18-20/hr many even less. a 5% raise is less then 1 dollar, less than that is .50 cents give or take, when dealing with prices of today that raise is not much
ReplyDeleteWhat you may not realize is that a dollar an hour is standard for most poso these days with degrees and 24/7 jobs with responsibilities
DeleteInflation cause. Consider this when voting in November
DeleteThe issue of not filling the positions is not the pay but rather what the world we live in has become. These days there is more risk for a caseworker going into a home where abuse was alleged. The situation of possibly removing a child is volitile. It takes a special person to do this job no matter what the pay. Being a county employee with the credentials I would not transfer there even if offered more money than my current pay and I'm a senior employee.
ReplyDeleteSuggestion, go to colleges try and recruit those who are those special people. Maybe have an emploee fair to answer any questions of misconceptions about the positions which I and others may have.
While the above comments relate to salary increases, and I agree that increases are needed, I wanted to comment on a statement that Maria Torres made regarding the tallies of child abuse referrals made to CYF. The record-keeping did not begin in 2015.
ReplyDeleteThe number of reports made to each county in Pennsylvania has been published each year by Childline and made available in the annual report. This has been since the inception of Childline in the 1970's.